XP Ends Support

XP Ends Support

Computer Operating systems have finite life spans, and, as they come to an end, it is imperative that firms upgrade to supported products.

Microsoft will, today on the 8th April, pull the plug on support for windows XP, an operating system still widely used by small firms throughout the UK and which first launched 12 years ago.

Support also ends for Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003, Small Business Server 2003 and Office 2003 on the same date.

Microsoft says that the end of support means the security updates that can help protect systems from harmful viruses, spyware and other malicious software, and updates to improve the reliability of Windows, will no longer be available.

As a result, the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s independant authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, may levy fines and penalties on companies that suffer security breaches and are found to be running XP.

There are a variety of options for upgrading, main ones include Microsoft’s Windows 7 or 8, Android or Apple products, Linux or Chrome OS.

You can find our more on end of XP support by following the link at the bottom of the article.